Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says his department’s new Office of Religious Freedom won’t become a vehicle for playing domestic politics in Canada’s immigrant communities.

Baird dismissed criticism that the new office could lead to an uncomfortable mix of religion and politics.

“Freedom of religion is one of the first things in the Charter, it’s one of the first things in the Bill of Rights, it’s front and centre in the UN Declaration of Human Rights — it’s an essential human right; I don’t see any concern about that at all,” Baird said in an interview, according to a Canadian Press report.

The Tories announced the creation of the office in their federal election platform last spring, but they have yet to roll out details of the new entity, to be housed within Foreign Affairs. “This office will be created to promote and protect freedom of religion and belief, consistent with core Canadian values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” Minister Braid told stakeholders during consultations in October last year. “Canadians enjoy the rights and privileges that come with living in a free and democratic society in which human rights are respected. We are also keenly aware of the struggles that religious minorities face around the world.”

Baird has been consulting internationally, including meetings with the Vatican in Rome and a day of consultations in Ottawa with religious groups in October. These consultations were, however, not open to the public. .

Baird offered few details about how the new office will actually function, according to the report which quotes him as saying,. “It’s in the campaign document. What you see is what you get. There won’t be any surprises.”

The government is expected to formally announce the new office early this year.